Project info
Work package
- Work
Sustainability threat
- Feedback Cycles
Challenge
- Identity flexibility and sustainable cooperation
- Shared responsibility and sustainable cooperation
Study info
Description of Study
Engaging in behavior to facilitate personal growth or collective change is a form of “positive risk-taking.” Going against the status quo entails a risk of social disapproval and can raise discomfort. When will this impede or benefit the achievement of behavioral change? For this research project, we aimed to find out more about the motivating role of experienced- and observed discomfort on positive risk-taking intentions and behaviors. We were especially interested in the role of cognitive discomfort appraisals, and psychological safety as possible psychological mechanisms.
In this experimental study, a motivational speaker gave two different presentations on "the role of discomfort for personal growth." The first presentation served as a control condition and consisted of conveying theoretical knowledge about feelings of discomfort, psychological safety, and personal growth. The second presentation was complemented by a series of practical exercises in which half of the audience was encouraged to experience some discomfort themselves (e.g., dancing together on stage, engaging in prolonged eye contact, shouting statements out loud and singing). The other half of the audience was asked to observe the scene, and and pay attention to what other group members might feel and think when engaging in the exercises. Positive risk-taking intentions and behaviors were measured before and after the presentations.
Study research question
1) Does discomfort appraisals moderate the relationship between type of discomfort and positive risk-taking intentions and behaviors?
2) What is the relationship between psychological safety and cognitive discomfort appraisals?
Collection provenance
- Collected during project
Collection methods
- Experiment
Personal data
No
External Source
Source description
File formats
- Both raw and cleaned datasets were stored as .xlx documents on the University Odrive.
Data types
- Structured
- Unstructured
Languages
- Dutch
Coverage start
Coverage end
15/04/2024
01/08/2024
Spatial coverage
Utrecht and surroundings
Collection period start
15/04/2024
Collection period end
01/08/2024
Variables
Unit
Unit description
Sample size
Sampling method
Individuals
bachelor, master or PhD students, at least 16 years old
146
convenience sampling
Hypothesis
Theory
Challenge (threat) appraisals significantly positively (negatively) relate to changes in positive risk-taking intentions, and to changes in general and specific risk-taking behaviors measured after 3 weeks.
Based on the biopsychosocial model (Blascovich & Mendes, 2000) stating that depending on the perception of situational demands and resources, people can differentially perceive their situation as either a threat or a challenge. While challenge states were generally associated with positive emotions, high performance, and well-being, threat states were related to stress, anxiety, and lowered performance (Hase et al., 2019).
Psychological safety significantly positively (negatively) relates to perceiving discomfort as a challenge (threat) (same as in Study 1).
We are focusing on one specific situational resource, namely the feeling of psychological safety, which is the confidence that behaving in line with one’s values, beliefs, and motivation will not have any negative interpersonal consequences such as being laughed at, embarrassed, or rejected by others (Edmondson et al., 1999). We propose that if people feel psychologically safe, they are enabled to focus their attention to possible behavioural benefits and away from potential risks, thereby perceiving their discomfort as a challenge.
Variable type
Variable name
Variable description
Dependent variable
Positive Risk-Taking Behavior
Behaviours that provide 1) potential rewards and costs, 2) variability in the probability of the outcomes, and 3) uncertainty about the outcomes. Unlike negative risks, positive risks are not harmful to well-being, safety, or health and are widely socially accepted. This variable was measured before and three weeks after the presentation with 9 items on a 5-point Likert scale such as “If you are nervous or under pressure, how often do you dare to speak up with your thoughts, feelings and ideas?” or “ How often do you openly and honestly communicate with others?”. Additionally, we asked them the open question: “What would you like to do differently from now on? Could you describe a situation in which you would behave differently?”
Dependent variable
Positive Risk-Taking Intentions
The level of motivation or willingness to engage in positive risk-taking behaviors. This was measured with 8 items on a 5-point Likert scale.
Independent variable
Type of Discomfort
A distinction was made between experienced discomfort and observed discomfort. Experienced discomfort refers to the discomfort that arises when people engage in positive risk-taking behaviors themselves. Observed discomfort refers to the discomfort that arises when people observe others going through discomfort.
Independent variable
Cognitive discomfort appraisals
A distinction was made between perceptions of discomfort as a positive challenge or perception of discomfort as a negative threat. Cognitive discomfort appraisals were measured with two items on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree) such as “During this presentation, I felt my discomfort as a positive challenge”.
Independent variable
Psychological Safety
The confidence that behaving in line with one’s values, beliefs, and motivation will not have any negative interpersonal consequences such as being laughed at, embarrassed, or rejected by others (Edmondson, 1999). Psychological safety was measured with seven items on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree) adapted from Edmondson et al. (1999) such as “During the presentation, I thought that other participants had good intentions towards me” or “During the presentation, I thought that I could bring up problems and issues.”
Control variable
Experienced Discomfort
The degree of experienced discomfort that was measured with three items on a 5-point Likert scale such as "To what extent did you worry about what others could think of you?".
Control variable
Observed Discomfort
The degree of observed discomfort that was measured with three items on a 5-point Likert scale.
Control variable
Presentation Enjoyment
The degree of enjoyment of the music, humor and way of presentation was measured with three items on a 5-point Likert scale.
Discipline-specific operationalizations
Conflict of interest
no conflict of interest
Data packages
Challenge Appraisals as Key Drivers of Immediate and Long-Term Behavior Change: Evidence from Real-Life Group Contexts/Data
Data package DOI
DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/FHZN4
Description
This data file contains the data file and metadata table for an explanation of included variables.
Accessibility
Open Access
Repository
OSF
User license
CC-By Attribution 4.0 International
Retention period
10
Publications
Challenge Appraisals as Key Predictors of Immediate and Long-Term Behavior Change: Evidence From Real-Life Group Contexts
Rieder, L., Strick, M., Buskens, V., & Ellemers, N. (2025). Challenge Appraisals as Key Predictors of Immediate and Long‐Term Behavior Change: Evidence From Real‐Life Group Contexts. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, jasp.70040. https://doi.org/10.1111/jasp.70040
Documents
Filename
Description
Date
Ethics
Ethical assessment
Yes
Ethical committee
Ethics Review Board of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences